The New Initiate
by graciewrites-stories
Summary: General Hux is irritated beyond belief by the brand new Finalizer initiate Officer Mildred, whose young and goofy attitude drives him insane. But when he starts to fall in love with her, mayhem ensues. Also has a little bit of Kylo Ren/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"General, sir," Lieutenant Mitaka says, striding up to General Hux on the control room of the _Finalizer._ "We have a new initiate."

Hux looked at the lieutenant out of the corner of his eye. Mitaka wrung his hands nervously. He had become extra cautious of his superiors after Commander Ren nearly choked him to death. Letting out a little sigh, Hux finally responded, "Name of initiate?"

"An Officer Mildred, sir."

An unreadable expression crossed the general's face at the mention of the initiate's name. "Mildred? I will see her immediately." Mitaka bowed and scuttled away, wiping his forehead with a little handkerchief.

General Hux made his way down the grey walls of the _Finalizer_ , before stopping at a door and walking in to a white walled room. He looked tiredly at the officers in the room, one of which, a girl with shiny auburn hair pulled back into a tight bun, with bright green eyes. "Officer Mildred?" Hux announced, staring her down with his cold blue eyes.

She stared back at him, her gaze unwavering. "Yes." Her voice was small and quiet, but strong and decisive.

"You're the new initiate?"

"I am."

General Hux turned to Chief Officer Unamo and waved his hand. "You may go back to your station." He said. He then returned his attention to Officer Mildred. She didn't look fazed by his cold stare, and even looked a little bored. His eye twitched. He picked up her file and skimmed over it, after a few pages his eyes widened. "Well, Officer. I must say this is impressive. It says you had the highest marks in your class. You must be proud of yourself." He glanced down at her.

She didn't break her gaze. "I am."

General Hux set down her file and proceeded to pick up a folder. "Do you know what this is, Officer Mildred?" he asked her, his face hard.

Mildred looked down at the papers. "The First Order Rules and Regulations." She answered.

Hux opened up the folder and began to read. "'The First Order are not liable for any harm that may come to or by any employees...'" As he read he kept a close eye on Mildred. He flipped to a later page, as Mildred's eyes started to glaze over from boredom. "'First Order employees are not permitted to have any sexual contact with their co-workers'..." He laughed inside as her eyes flew open.

"Excuse me?" she repeated. "But only during work hours right?"

Hux set down his folder. "Yes, of course. Because during work hours, you're supposed to be working. Any none work-related activity during 0900 to 01700 are not permitted." He returned back to the folder. " 'Any breaking of these rules can result in a demotion and/or firing. All final decisions are to be made by the General.'" He shut the folder and set it back onto the desk, and got up and began pacing the room. Officer Mildred remained quiet. "So, despite your obvious talents," he said. "This job will not be easy. It will take an extreme amount of dedication to your superiors, your work, and, of course, the First Order! And, as you've just heard, there are rules." He continued once he saw she was listening closely. "The most important rule to follow is one you've already broken."

At this, a flash of distress crossed her face. "Excuse me?"

General Hux stopped right in front of her. "There it is again."

Officer Mildred's forehead wrinkled as she wondered what this crazy redhead meant. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Any guesses?" Hux taunted, crossing his arms.

Mildred tucked a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear while she thought. Then it dawned on her. "Oh." She looked back up at him. "Pardon me, sir."

Hux smirked. "Good. You must always call me 'sir'." He stood up and smoothed out his coat, casting a dismissive glance at Officer Mildred, who still looked bewildered. "You're dismissed." And with a satisfied smile, General Hux left the room, and Officer Mildred's face melted in a fiery glare. "What a son-of-a—" Before she could finish her statement, Chief Officer Unamo with Lieutenant Mitaka and another initiate, young Officer Tara came into the room to finish off the paperwork. Tara gave her a wide-eyed look and Mildred rolled her eyes at her.


	2. Chapter 2

"Well? What happened? Mildred, I'm worried! Tell me something!" Tara was like this ever since the workday ended and they returned to their room.

Mildred turned and glared at her friend. "I already told you! The General just talked to me for a moment and left." She said.

Tara hugged her knees, her bright blond hair falling on her shoulders in perfect straight strands. "But Mitaka told me terrible things. Darn it, Mildred, that general is scary! I was terrified for you."

Mildred rolled over and flopped onto the bed. "Don't tell anyone I said this, but...General Hux is a total _jerk_!"

Tara sighed. "A jerk? What do you mean?"

Mildred sat up, sharply, letting her beautiful wavy auburn hair fall over her shoulder. "I mean, he's a jerk! He's so full of himself."

"Well, he is the general. And the general _is_ the general."

"I guess, but he's so rude! Valkyrie, he was literally taunting me."

"Taunting you?"

Mildred sniffed, brushing away an unruly strand of her hair. "Yeah." She rested her chin on her knees as she explained. "I was really nervous before meeting him, I sort of forgot to call him 'sir', and he was making fun of me for it. Apparently I broke a rule. Since when was calling him 'sir' a rule?"

Tara was quiet for a second, with her eyebrows raised. "Um, Millie, he is your superior. He has every right to correct you on it anyway he wants." She paused. "Are you sure that's the reason you don't like him?"

Mildred went quiet, turning away from her friend and looking out the window at the stars. "Yeah..." She recalled her meeting with the General that day. When Mitaka announced his arrival, she didn't know what she expected. "I don't know...I guess I had the wrong expectations."

"Well, what were your expectations?" Tara asked.

"I don't know, maybe someone old and ugly." She was shocked when a tall, ginger-haired general strode in. He threw her off guard. She had only ever seen Commander Ren on the motivational posters, never the General. She almost didn't understand what Lieutenant Mitaka was talking about. That is, until he spoke. Then she was a different kind of shocked.

"I'm not sure I understand."

Mildred turned to her friend and shrugged. "His attitude, I guess. It threw me off."

Tara shrugged. "Well, what do you expect? People in the First Order aren't known to have manners." She laughed.

Mildred lay back down and pulled the cover over her shoulders. "I hate him." She muttered. Then she had a very pleasant thought. She'll get so high up in the ranks that she'd become an asset, and then, once he cant get rid of her, drive him absolutely crazy. Now, wouldn't that be fun?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kylo Ren tossed a card onto the stack and glanced up at the extremely quiet and irritated Hux, who was looking at his cards and muttering to himself.

Finally Kylo threw his cards out onto bar counter. "What!? What is it!?" he cried, his voice booming from his mask.

General Hux's eyebrows furrowed, and he slowly set down his cards since Kylo gave up on the game. "None of your business." Hux muttered.

"Stop muttering. Talk." Ren was insistent.

The General leaned back on the bar stool and let out a deep sigh. "The new initiate." He said quietly.

Ren leaned on his gloved fist. "Which initiate? You get new initiates every week!" he pointed out.

Hux rolled his eyes, irritated. "Officer Mildred."

"Okay, and what did this Mildred do?"

Hux pounded his fist on the counter, causing the bar tender to jump. "She forgot to call me 'sir'!" he cried, a hint of a whine in his voice.

"Hux, have you ever thought that you might be touchy?" Kylo said, sardonically.

Hux glared at him before continuing. "Can you believe the audacity of her? Here she is, meeting the _general_ of the _Finalizer_! And she doesn't even call me 'sir'. I had to tell her! The nerve." He took another swig of his drink.

Kylo Ren crossed his arms. "And?"

"And what? That's it." Hux pouted.

"There's more. I can sense it."

Hux flushed and tossed the cards at Ren. "Oh, stop using the Force on me!" He squirmed, choosing his words carefully. "She was...not ugly."

"So she was pretty?"

"No! Not pretty. Just...decent. But she was rude!"

"Okay, so why does this rude-but-pretty initiate bother you so much?"

"I never said she was pretty, Ren!"

"You said she was decent, also known as pretty but not wanting to say it."

"She was _not_ pretty."

Ren was quiet before saying, "Perhaps Supreme Leader Snoke would like to hear about this."

Hux paled, and glared at Ren. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Then tell me about the girl."

Hux bit his lip and sighed. "She was...one of the most beautiful initiates I've ever seen. Beautiful auburn coloured hair, green eyes...The longest eyelashes..." He stood up from the counter, taking one last swig. "I hate her."

Ren snorted as Hux left the room.

"It sounds like Armitage actually has eyes for someone other than his cat." Kylo said to Essa, as she braided his hair.

"Mm, perhaps. But he just met her; it's too soon for anything." Essa smiled to herself. "But it is a nice thought."

Kylo lightly touched Essa's hand. "I didn't really like you when I first met you."

Essa leaned over and kissed his cheek, laughing. "Really?"

Kylo nodded, thoughtfully. "Too happy."

Essa shook her head and returned to braiding. "But Matt helped." She commented.

"Yeah, when you came over and started bothering me." Mutual giggling.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Officer Mildred was the best decision that the superiors of _the Finalizer_ ever made. After only three weeks, she had already single-handedly taken on the work of two people and soon became the head of her own team of officers.

"...she's intelligent and very hard-working..." Lieutenant Mitaka was reading to Captain Phasma and General Hux her file. "It says here that she has taken on the work of two officers, and has her very own team reporting to her! In only three weeks!" He paused and looked up at Hux. "Not to mention she's really pretty." Phasma frowned, and Mitaka smiled at her. "But not as pretty as you, my dear."

"Oh, Dopheld!" Phasma giggled, swatting his arm. Hux frowned, and Phasma regained her rigid posture.

"Overall, Officer Mildred was a great choice for the Officers Division." Mitaka concluded, closing out of her file and tapping his chin.

Hux's face twitched at the high praise; he recalled her behaviour in the office. "She's tolerable, but I've seen better." He said, striding away and into the main control room. Captain Phasma and Lieutenant Mitaka exchanged a confused glance, but let him leave. As Hux walked, nodding at the various crew members as he passed, he found himself getting increasingly irritated. Officer Mildred was rude. End of story. No matter how talented or beautiful she was, she failed to respect her superior, and that was what made Hux the most angry. He had no time for rude people.

Entering into the control room, he looked out onto the sea of officers, milling around and working. He shut his eyes and happily listened to the sounds of the smoothly working _Finalizer_ crew; all working toward the same purpose: destroying the Republic. He let a smile spread across his lips before opening his eyes and coming face-to-face with Officer Mildred.

Crying out in surprise, he jumped back and Mildred let out a little laugh. "Stop that right this instant!" he cried, as Mildred's laughter died down. "What do you think you're doing?"

Officer Mildred shook her head. "Oh, man, the look on your face." She sighed.

Hux in that moment immediately regretted hiring her. She was too much of an asset to get rid of now. "What do you want?" he snapped, his irritation about to boil over.

Mildred handed him a chip card. "Chief Officer Unamo wanted me to give this to you." She explained.

Hux snatched it from her hand in one swift movement. "What is it?" He kept his words clipped, so as to limit the amount of time he had to speak to her.

"The results from the droid scouts." Mildred replied, as if it was common knowledge.

Hux slipped the card into his pocket, and turned to leave, but Mildred spoke up. "Hey, are you forgetting something?" she said, her annoying voice grating against his eardrums.

He turned back around slowly and glared at her. "Am I?" He considered demoting her that very instant, but Phasma would kill him and dance on his grave.

Mildred smiled. "Yes." She leaned in and batted her eyelashes, which just made Hux hate her more. "How about a 'thank you'?" she said, sweetly.

"Listen here, Officer Mildred!" Hux hissed, leaning in and looking her right in the eye. "I don't care how big of a big-shot you are here. When you talk to me, you watch your tongue. In case you forgot, I am the General of this ship. I can demote you—or fire you—whenever I please!"

Mildred beamed at him and turned to leave. "Okay, that'll do." She strolled away and Hux stood their fuming.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Why does the General keep glaring at you?" Tara's voice cut right through Mildred's thoughts.

Mildred blinked and turned to her friend. "He's glaring at me?" she whispered.

Tara nodded. "And hasn't stopped since you gave him the chip card!" Her friend paused. "What did you do?"

The young officers were seated near the back of the _Finalizer_ cafeteria and the General was standing a little ways away with Captain Phasma, glaring at Mildred. Mildred squirmed a little under his fierce glare, but was confident that her plan won't get her into any _real_ trouble. After a moment he left the cafeteria and she turned back to Tara, feigning surprise. "Hm, I wonder what's his problem." She returned her attention to her instant lunch, which she stirred in the mixture before leaning back and seeing a loaf materialize. She took the loaf and bit into it, munching happily. General Hux hated her guts, and she was going to enjoy every second of it.

Wrapping up her half-eaten lunch, Tara stood up from the table. "Well, I'm going to go get a head-start on the day." She bent down and patted Mildred's shoulder. "Don't forget, you have a meeting." She reminded her.

Mildred nodded with a small smile, tossing her leftover lunch back in her bag. "I remember."

Tara winked. "Stay out of trouble." She turned and left the room, and Mildred glanced over at where General Hux had been before he left, and listened to her thoughts, but nothing was clear.

Starting down the hall, Mildred suddenly heard the sound of chatting behind a door. She peered into the doorway and groaned internally when she saw it was the General, the Captain, and the Commander, bumming around in a room and eating their lunches. She noticed three different things in this scene. First, Commander Ren sipping what looked like water through a straw hole in his mask's mouthpiece; second, Captain Phasma wasn't wearing her helmet and was laughing at something; and third, General Hux looked relaxed, and was leaning against the room's little counter. Mildred immediately noticed the third, and was a little surprised. For once he wasn't frowning or complaining about something. He just looked...normal. For once, his forehead was smooth and Mildred could see him neutrally. He was sort of handsome, she guessed. Nothing special, but not hideous. Before when he would be rude to her, she never cared how he looked. She jumped when she heard a little meow from a side of the room she couldn't see, and clamped a hand over her mouth when a cat slinked over to Hux and winded itself around his leg. She was even more shocked when Hux laughed (since when was he able to laugh?) and looked down at the cat. "Millie, what are you doing here? Daddy's working." He said.

Captain Phasma shook her head and out of the corner of her eyes, spotted Mildred in the doorway. "Hey!" she cried, and Hux whipped his head up. Mildred knew there was no use running, so she just stood there, as Hux, Ren, and Phasma came over. "Sorry." Mildred apologized, and glanced over at the General. He looked irritated as usual, but she could still recall how he looked with that cat. She suddenly didn't feel like irritating him again, partly because Ren could choke her. "I just...I heard talking..." she stopped trying to explain, because the Commander and Captain had started back to the control room. The General crossed his arms and the cat reappeared by his side. After a moment of awkward silence, the General finally spoke. "Why were you spying on us?" he demanded.

Mildred looked down at the cat, which was rubbing its head on Hux's leg. Her stomach twisted. "I assure you," she said. "I didn't mean to."

Hux followed her gaze to the cat. Mildred bit her lip. "What's its name?" she asked quietly.

The General squinted at her before replying. "It's a 'she', and her name is Millicent." He said, with a cold voice. Millicent looked up at Mildred tiredly.

"Hi, Millicent." Mildred whispered, waving at the ginger cat. She laughed lightly. "Heh, she has red fur, just like your hair."

The General stiffened and smoothed back his ginger hair. "Yes, I noticed."

"And almost the same blue eyes." Mildred added, glancing up and looking into his eyes. Suddenly, she felt unable to focus and her stomach fluttered. They were so blue. Blue and full of confusion. A soft meow called her attention back to Millicent, who had wound herself around Mildred's leg. "Can I pet her?" Mildred asked.

Hux squirmed. "I guess I have no choice but to let you, since Millicent apparently wants you to." He replied, a hint of annoyance bridging his voice.

Mildred bent down and patted the ginger cat on the top of her head, and quickly stood back up and the cat returned to the General who in turn bent down to pet her. Mildred found herself noticing the way he moved, as if he was moving in slow-motion, every movement he made accentuated. He was very fit. The thought caused her to glance at his legs and arms, the muscles visible through his fitted coat. He ran his fingers through Millicent's fur and Mildred almost fell over when she imagined those fingers running through her long auburn hair. Why was this happening? She gasped for air as he stood back up and met her eyes. "Well, Officer Mildred, we should get back to work?" he said.

"Yes, I should go." Mildred gasped, regaining her composure. She couldn't meet his eyes, so she ducked around him and headed back to her station. She stole a little glance over her shoulder and Hux's expression was beyond confused.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hi guys! First of all, thank you for all your support! All the views and adding it to a community (!). I can't even describe how happy I am that you are all enjoying Hux and Mildred's adventures in romance, even though you have never met Mildred before. Secondly, I am so sorry for the long wait! I've had a slump in inspiration and life just got in the way. But now I think I've got it. So! Enjoy Chapter 6 of The New Initiate (finally)._

Lying on her bed at four in the morning was Mildred, and her thought material was most surprising. She hadn't stopped thinking about General Hux since she ran into him and Millicent the ginger cat the day before. Something had happened, but Mildred didn't dare wonder what that might've been! Tara was snoring beside her and Mildred's mind was screaming. _HE'S HOT! HE'S REALLY HOT!_ She threw the pillow over her face and groaned. _Noooooooo... I hate him! He hates me! It was fine that way!_ She sat up and tossed the hair off her shoulder, and felt the area where her heart was. It was pounding. She sighed and pinched her forehead. _Okay, Mildred. Say it. Just say it._ She fell back onto the bed, mentally wailing, _I can't say it!_ It was going to be a long night.

The next morning, when faced with her station, Mildred made a decision. She was going to get General Hux to like her. How? Through the only way she knew: working. She was going to work so hard, be the best officer in the First Order, so that Hux won't be able to help but fall for her. It's a ridiculous plan, but a plan all the same. Tara glanced out of the corner of her eye at Mildred, who at that current moment, was buried up to her nose in papers and folders. "Mildred?" Tara finally said after a good few moments of silence. "What are you doing?"

"Working." Came Mildred's muffled reply from behind the giant screen.

"Even more? Mildred, you already hold the work of two officers!" Tara was getting worried. "This isn't good for you."

Mildred raised her head and waved Tara away. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." She disappeared again and resumed typing furiously. Tara was distraught, Mildred could (and would) get sick from all this working. She turned around and spotted the General standing on a platform surveying the room. Tara rushed over to him.

"Excuse me, Sir?" she said, breathless from the run.

Hux looked at her annoyed. "Yes?"

"It's about Officer Mildred, Sir." At the mention of Mildred's name, Hux's eyebrows shot up.

"Proceed." Fighting off her nerves, Tara proceeded to explain Mildred's situation. "She's working too hard, I'm afraid she'll get burned out!" Tara wrung her hands as Hux stared at her for a few moments.

"Well, what can I do about it?" Hux finally said in exasperation. "She's the workaholic."

"Please, sir. She won't listen to me, but she will listen to you! Have her sent for an examination and then we will see."

Hux shook his head slowly. "Oh alright." He turned to Officer Unamo. "Unamo, have Officer Mildred sent for Medical. Apparently there's such a thing as working too hard." She nodded and headed for Mildred's desk.

Mildred furiously typed in the numbers from the droid scouts onto her file until a tall, stately shadow loomed over her screen. She finally looked up to see Officer Unamo standing there. "Officer Mildred, General Hux has just requested that I escort you to Medical."

Mildred looked confused. "But I'm fine! There's nothing wrong with me."

"That was an order."

Hux looked over the results of Officer Mildred's examination with concern. "This is not good news." he mumbled, flipping through the pages.

The nurse nodded. "It definitely looks like all the tell-tale signs of burn-out. A long break is needed for this one!" Hux handed her the file back and crossed his arms.

"There's only so much I can do. Officer Mildred just loves to work! It even eludes me."

"Well then you better teach her to have some fun or you're going to lose one of your prime assets in your workforce." She stalked out of the room and Hux let out a long sigh. "And how does one do that?"


	7. Chapter 7

**FINALLY! I'm back! Once again, thank you everyone for your support. I've got some good stuff for you this time! ;)**

Mildred sat in front of the mirror in her tiny staff room, gazing at her reflection. What had she become? Tara had made her go visit the medic because of how much she was working and it didn't seem to have any effect on the General. In fact, he seemed to be annoyed with her now. But why? She observed the dark circles under her eyes and how her reddish hair stuck out in various places, giving her a wild appearance. Not cute. She sighs and picks up her cap, firmly placing it on her head, before trudging to work. She finally noticed just how exhausted she was, and as she drew closer to the work room door, the pristine grey hallways suddenly began to blur around her. Someone called her name but before she could respond, the world went black.

Mildred's head throbbed as her eyes peeled open and she took in her surroundings. The doctor was frowning at her and shaking his head slowly. She sat up and Tara rushed over. "What happened!?" she cried, falling down beside her on the medical bed.

"Where am I..." Mildred mumbled, sitting upright and looking around.

A stern male voice answered from the doorway. "The medical ward." The General stood glaring at her.

"Medical - " Mildred started, her eyes finally clearing and she groaned at the sight of him. "Sir, I can explain - "

"Don't bother; we knew this would happen at the rate you were going." He replied, curtly. Mildred's face burned.

Tara looked at her worriedly. "We were all worried about you! If it wasn't for the General catching you when you fainted, it would've been a lot worse." Mildred whipped her head around to stare at him, but his face remained impassive.

"Thank you." she whispered.

His eye twitched and he walked right out. Mildred's face fell. She avoided eye contact with anyone when she muttered that she needed rest. They obliged and she was left to mope alone. _He hates my guts._ She thought as she drifted off to sleep.

If there was any sense of time in space, it would have been around midnight when Mildred was rudely awakened by Hux standing over her, no longer in his uniform but a loose black long-sleeved shirt. She shrieked and immediately sat up. He turned around and headed for the door. "Get dressed and come with me." For once he wasn't ordering, he was actually asking.

She quickly threw on the clothes and met him at the door. "Where are we going?" she wondered.

"How are you feeling?" Hux asked in turn, avoiding her question.

"Better." Mildred hesitated before quietly adding, "Now."

Hux ignored her comment and they walked in silence down the hall and down the elevator before stopping in front of the wall. Hux knocked on the door and a piece of the wall slid back, revealing a doorway and a little dark walkway behind. A stormtrooper peered at Mildred in confusion but she stuck close to Hux, but not too close as to invoke discomfort. But close enough. Music boomed from farther down the walkway and Mildred looked up at Hux. "Are you taking me to a party or something?" Her question was immediately answered when they walked into what seemed like a stormtrooper club, complete with flashing lights, a dance floor, and a bar. Mildred's eyes widened as they weaved through the partying stormtroopers toward the bar. She noticed Kylo Ren sitting at the bar as well, which normally would be a strange sight, but this night has been full of weird things.

Hux sat down and finally looked at her. "Well. What do you think?"

Mildred was speechless. "What do I think?! This is awesome, but how is it allowed?"

Hux shrugged. "Nobody really cares."

The bartender handed her a bottle of a mysterious substance, which Mildred cautiously accepted. "But ..." she said, while attempting to pry off the bottle cap. "Why am I here?"

"You seemed like you needed some fun in your life."

Mildred nodded and peered into the bottle. It was a murky green. "I see." She pushed it away and shuddered. "And you're the one to teach me?"

Hux thought for a moment. "Yes."

Mildred raised an eyebrow. "Says the guy who never smiled once in his life."

Hux couldn't argue with this and instead sipped his alcoholic beverage. The music in the room changed to a slow dance and the drunk stormtroopers stumble dontp the dance floor. Hux glanced over his shoulder and silently observed them. "You know, Mildred...how much do you really know about me?" He says quietly, before disappearing onto the dance floor.


	8. Chapter 8

Hux wandered through the crowd of dancing stormtroopers, his head spinning - partly because of all the fire-water he ingested by this point. He spotted Phasma and Mitaka giggling together on the other side of the room. He stumbled over and pulled her to the side. Phasma glared at him. "What do you want, Armitage?" she snapped.

Hux attempted to stabilize himself, but ended up flopping against the stage. "I feel...weird..." he slurred.

"Why did you drink so much?" Phasma demanded, smacking him up the head.

"Because I'm sssaaaaad! I'm a ssaad, sad mann..." Hux shook his head and Phasma rolled her eyes, but her attention was suddenly diverted to Mildred sitting at the bar, chatting with the bartender. "Why is she here?"

"I brought her with me. Thought she needed some fun in her life!"

Phasma squinted. " _You_?"

Hux groaned in frustration. "Why is everyone saying that?! I can have fun." He holds up his glass of fire-water.

Phasma nods slowly, taking the glass out of his hand. "Yeah, you don't have fun; you drink your miseries away." Hux sighed, knowing she was probably right. He gazed across the room at Officer Mildred, laughing and doing some ridiculous dance move. "Pretty hot, huh?" Phasma said, cutting through his thoughts.

He glared at her. "No." Phasma raised an eyebrow and Hux relented. "Okay, yes. Maybe. But she's so..." He turned back and watched her as she suddenly laughed loudly at something someone said. He was going to say she was annoying, but now he wasn't sure if he believed it. He didn't _like_ her, but he could tolerate her. And she was a hard worker. "...intriguing." he finally concluded. Yes, that was the right word for it. Intriguing. Mildred was very intriguing. Plus she likes his cat!

Mildred wondered where the General went. Eh, probably abandoned her. She wasn't fully sure why he brought her here but it was a really nice place and the people were great. The bartender was telling her the story of the time he got into a ridiculous argument at a cantina on Jakku and it amused her, but she kind of missed the General's moody company. He didn't talk much and often glared at her, but she didn't mind. At least he was being honest about his feelings. Her eyes scanned the crowd until someone suddenly grabbed her shoulders. Mildred violently jerked back only to find Tara laughing at her.

"Your face!" she cried, face red from laughter.

Mildred smoothed down her hair. "Not funny, Tara. I could have had a heart attack."

Still giggling, Tara plopped down beside Mildred at the bar, ordering herself an icy glass of water. "I just saw The General over there." said Tara, once the bartender had left to tend to another customer.

Mildred feigned disinterest as she sipped her own drink. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. He was looking at you."

Now _this_ was interesting. "No, he wasn't. " Mildred could feel her face burning up.

"He was! And..." Tara lowered her voice. "His eyes were all wide. I think he likes you!"

Mildred chuckled. "I think we all know he hates me. Can't blame him, though. I'm a real pain in the ass."

Tara rolled her eyes. "You're not."

"Then you don't know me well enough."

Tara gripped Mildred's arm and squealed. "Ohmygosh! He's coming over!" Mildred pulled her arm away as General Hux strolled over.

"Hello, officers." he said, eyeing Mildred who was pretending not to notice him. He smirked. "Officer Mildred." She turned reluctantly. "Could I interest you in a..." He hesitated to build anticipation. "...dance?"

Mildred's jaw hit the floor and Tara clasped a hand over her mouth. "Uh...yeah, sure?" Mildred said, after a moment of shock. For the first time, Hux genuinely smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

The music was even louder out on the dance floor. Up on the stage, a stormtrooper general was rapping to a hard beat, complete with back-up dancers...who were also stormtroopers. Mildred turned to Hux. "When you said a dance, I was expecting something a little bit more quiet!" she yelled over the noise. An officer pushed past her, causing her to nearly spill her soda. Hux steadied her. "We aren't exactly trained dancers." he pointed out, gesturing to a twerking stormtrooper. Mildred cringed and averted her eyes from the disturbing image. Hux took her hand and led her to the middle of the room, where there was a little pocket of space. He took her soda and handed it to a passing server droid. "You need to relax."

Mildred looked at him strangely but the music was infectiously catchy, and eventually she was dancing up a storm without a care in the world, spinning and twirling across the dance floor. Both of them were laughing, although Mildred guessed Hux was probably a little drunk. She didn't think she had ever seen him like this in her life. At one point during a party anthem, a partier shoved past her, violently knocking her into Hux, who caught her immediately. She smiled at him gratefully and Hux looked at her queerly. "You're so...beautiful." Before Mildred could respond, a server droid nudged his leg, carrying a platter of seafood. Hux, dazed as he was, accepted the snack of marinated prawns. Mildred raised her eyebrow but decided not to comment. Within minutes poor Hux was throwing up his guts. Mildred crossed her arms while she waited for him outside the bathroom door. "Probably shouldn't have eaten the prawns!" she wrinkled her nose. "Or drunk so much."

"You won't mention this to anybody!" Hux angrily demanded from the bathroom.

Mildred rolled her eyes. "Of course not, sir." But her mind wandered to goofy, dancing Hux calling her beautiful. Now _that_ was weird. "Hey, sir?" No response. "Am I really beautiful?"

There was a long silence on the other end and Mildred peeled the door open. The poor guy was fast asleep on the marble floor. She sighed and said out loud to nobody in particular, "Guess I'll never know." With a little help from Matt the radar technician, she managed to haul Hux back to his room.

Matt unceremoniously tossed Hux's unconscious body on the bed. "Should I ask how this happened?" he muttered.

Mildred shook her head and handed Matt 200 in space currency. "Tell no one."

Matt shrugged. "How can I? I have no friends." But he took the 200 anyway before leaving. Mildred stood there, watching Hux's sleeping form. She tossed a blanket over him. "You idiot."

The next morning, Hux blearily opened his eyes. He noticed immediately that he was no longer at the club and in his room, and he was overcome by fear. Had he done something stupid? He looked around for Mildred, but she was nowhere to be found. He sighed and dressed in his uniform, attempting to appear professional. He was a General after all. He smacked himself in the forehead. What had gotten into him? The moment he walked into the main computer room, he spotted Mildred at her station and felt instantly sick. He couldn't remember a thing from the night before, which was really starting to freak him out. He cautiously approached Mildred's station and she smiled mischievously up at him.

"Good morning, General. Sleep well?" Her eyes were sparkling and evil as he squirmed uncomfortably.

"May I speak to you, Officer?" He glanced around irritably. "Privately?"

She smirked and followed him to a quiet corner. "What's up, _sir_?"

Hux glared at her. "What happened last night?"

Mildred leaned against the wall. "Oh, other than us making out? Not much."

"Making-!" Hux cut himself off. "Be serious."

"How do you know I'm not?"

"Because I wouldn't do that!"

"Even under the influence?"

Hux stared at her. "Was it that bad?" Mildred nodded slowly. Hux groaned. "Don't worry," said Mildred teasingly. "I won't tell a soul." She winked and strolled away, whistling to herself.


	10. Chapter 10

Mildred strolled over to the nurse's office for her weekly checkup. Things had been going fairly smoothly since the "incident" and Mildred kept her mouth shut about it, just like she promised. But the memories of the Incident had been haunting her for weeks and she really needed to tell somebody. She passed Essera the cleaning lady in the hallway and froze, turning to her.

"Have you ever had a secret tearing you up inside so intensely that you just have to tell somebody about but can't?" she said to her, with a pained smile.

Essera looked up at her warily, pausing from wiping the juice spill on a shiny black wall. "No, I don't think so." she said slowly.

Mildred shrugged, a wild look growing in her eyes. "Well, I do and now you can't tell anybody either!" she laughed manically. "This is great. I'm LOSING IT!" She rushed away and Essera looked up the stormtrooper standing next to her, who just shrugged.

Mildred briskly stalked down the hallway until she came to the nurse's office. Knocking on the door, she waited to be called in and noticed she was starting to get a headache. _This is too stressful for me_ , she thought.

"Come in!" came a younger, less grumpier female voice from inside.

Mildred's brow furrowed. _Odd._ She opened the door to find a slim, young nurse in her early twenties, chatting with one of the young officers. "Hey, Thanisson." Mildred greeted him as he left, before returning her attention to the new nurse. "What happened to Octavia?" she asked her, crossing her arms.

The new nurse smiled gently. "Oh, she retired," she explained. "Now I've taken over her position." She stretched out her hand to Mildred. "I'm Gale."

Mildred frowned but hesitantly took her hand. "Mildred."

Gale nodded. "Nice to meet you, Mildred." She sat down at her desk. "So I've been looking at your medical history," Gale started, peering at Mildred's medical file on the hovering screen. "It seems you have a tendency to burn yourself out. Any possible reason for this behavior?"

Mildred shook her head. "Only the desire to be the best officer in the fleet." she said, quietly.

Gale peered at her. "But you do know how hard that is to achieve, right? I saw your file, you're already in the list of 'top ten officers'."

"Well, top ten isn't good enough for me, I guess." Mildred sniffed.

Gale readjusted her glasses. "Why?"

Mildred gnawed on her lip, looking away. "To tell you the truth..." she shifted closer and lowered her voice. "...I may have a mental problem."

Gale opened and closed her mouth, unsure what to say to this. "What kind of problem?" she finally asked, in an equally low voice.

"I think I'm sexually attracted to the General." Mildred replied, matter-of-factually.

Gale was confounded and blinked profusely. "Mildred, I don't see how that's a condition." she said, finally. Just then, Hux walked by the door of the Medical room, stopping and running his fingers through his red hair, now messy from the hat. "Hello, Nurse Gale. Officer Mildred." he said stiffly before continuing on his way. Gale turned back to Mildred. "I think he's just an attractive person." Gale said.

Mildred scrunched up her nose. "So, I actually do like him?" She groaned and buried her face in her hands. "It would have been easier to be crazy! Especially since he called me beautiful..."

Gale chose the wrong time to take a sip of water, as the moment Mildred said that, water shot out of Gale's nose. She coughed for a full minute before wheezing, "He did _what_ now?!"

"Yeah," Mildred sighed, playing with the hem of her uniform. "He was drunk."

Gale blinked. "Okay, then. Since you've drunk together, you should probably tell him how you feel and hope for the best. That's my professional advice."

Mildred looked up at Gale in horror. "Tell him!?" she cried.

"Yeah," Gale said. "He told you he thought you were beautiful. I'd surmise he probably secretly likes you too." she gave her a pointed look. "Alcohol always reveals the truth."

Mildred left the room feeling no better than when she came in, but she knew Nurse Gale was probably right. She had to tell Hux the truth. The question was: how?


End file.
